Question 1: Who is the Author? Who wrote the site? Is the author's name listed on the site? Check at the bottom of the home page or under the About Us link found on many sites. Is there a link to the author's email address? Anyone can get an email address, too. What happens if you try to email the author? Does the author answer your email? Does the email bounce? Where does the author work? Are the author's work address and phone number listed on the website. Finding this information on the site can help you to decide whether or not to believe what you read on the site. Does the author belong to an organization that is trusted? Look at the part of the website's address that comes after the dot: .gov — (government)
.edu — (education … usually a university)
.org — (organization)
.com — (commercial)
.net — (network) Do you think that a site made by someone who works for the government or a university should always be trusted? That is usually the case, but you might still want to look for more information to be sure. Look for a tilde (~) in the website's address. The tilde means that it is the author's own web page on the university server. It is not an official web page from the university. Is the author an expert on the topic of the website? Look for information about the author's background. You can usually find this kind of information on the About Us page of a website.
Question 2: Is the Information Accurate?
How do you know if the information on the page is accurate or true? Does the author let you know where he/she found the information? Look for a list of sources or references (places where the author found the information) on the site. Does anyone else say the same thing? You should check other sources (other websites, books, etc.) to see if anyone else gives the same information, if you are not sure about it. Who wrote the site? Would someone who works for that organization give out information that you should trust? Asking these two questions, takes you back to the first set of questions about the author, doesn't it? People and places you trust are more likely to have accurate information on their websites. Sometimes children make websites for class projects. These children work very hard on their websites, but six year old children are not experts on as many things as the adults who get paid for their work on a website.
Question 3: Is There Bias? What is the purpose of the web page? Are they trying to sell you something … an idea or a product? Is it a commercial site? Do they want to make money? Look for .com in the website's address. That means it is a commercial site. Look for an advertising logo. Look for a catalog with prices. Does someone want to make you believe something that they believe? Are you reading someone else's viewpoint rather than what is true? Are there other good viewpoints that you won't find on the site? Does the author use special words to try to get you to take his/her side? Is there a Mission Statement or something in the About Us link that will help you decide why the site was created?
Question 4: When Was the Website Made? How is the Website arranged? Is the site too old for the information to be trusted? Sometimes it doesn't matter when a site was created. Websites about Harriet Tubman or Anne Frank from 1996 might be just as good or better than websites about Tubman or Frank that were created in 2005. They both lived a long time ago so the information in the new sites might not be any different than the information in the older sites. Sometimes the date the site was made matters. If you want to find statistics (facts, numbers) about the animals of the rain forest that are having their habitat destroyed, you want to use current information. You should use a site that has a recent date to get your facts. How do you find out when a website was made? Look for a date on the site. You might find a date at the bottom of the home page. You might also want to see if the website was revised or changed after it was first made. You should look for a date and the word "updated." That means the person who updated it made changes, but sometimes it might have been to just fix a spelling mistake. Do the links work? Do you get a lot of error messages when you click on links? Or does nothing happen when you click on a link? That shows that people have not worked on the site for a long time so the information might not be current. Can you easily navigate the website? You should be able to find information on your specific topic easily. Look for a Site Map, Table of Contents, Index or Search Box.
Click on each website and evaluate it using the Checkpoints for Evaluating Websites and the instructions below.
http://carlos.emory.edu/ODYSSEY/EGYPT/homepg.html
http://www.crystalinks.com/egypt.html
Use a separate form for each website:
Question 1: Who is the Author?
Who wrote the site? Is the author's name listed on the site? Check at the bottom of the home page or under the About Us link found on many sites.
Is there a link to the author's email address? Anyone can get an email address, too. What happens if you try to email the author? Does the author answer your email? Does the email bounce?
Where does the author work? Are the author's work address and phone number listed on the website. Finding this information on the site can help you to decide whether or not to believe what you read on the site.
Does the author belong to an organization that is trusted? Look at the part of the website's address that comes after the dot:
.gov — (government)
.edu — (education … usually a university)
.org — (organization)
.com — (commercial)
.net — (network)
Do you think that a site made by someone who works for the government or a university should always be trusted? That is usually the case, but you might still want to look for more information to be sure. Look for a tilde (~) in the website's address. The tilde means that it is the author's own web page on the university server. It is not an official web page from the university.
Is the author an expert on the topic of the website? Look for information about the author's background. You can usually find this kind of information on the About Us page of a website.
Question 2: Is the Information Accurate?
How do you know if the information on the page is accurate or true?
Does the author let you know where he/she found the information? Look for a list of sources or references (places where the author found the information) on the site.
Does anyone else say the same thing? You should check other sources (other websites, books, etc.) to see if anyone else gives the same information, if you are not sure about it.
Who wrote the site? Would someone who works for that organization give out information that you should trust? Asking these two questions, takes you back to the first set of questions about the author, doesn't it? People and places you trust are more likely to have accurate information on their websites.
Sometimes children make websites for class projects. These children work very hard on their websites, but six year old children are not experts on as many things as the adults who get paid for their work on a website.
Question 3: Is There Bias?
What is the purpose of the web page? Are they trying to sell you something … an idea or a product? Is it a commercial site? Do they want to make money? Look for .com in the website's address. That means it is a commercial site. Look for an advertising logo. Look for a catalog with prices.
Does someone want to make you believe something that they believe? Are you reading someone else's viewpoint rather than what is true? Are there other good viewpoints that you won't find on the site? Does the author use special words to try to get you to take his/her side?
Is there a Mission Statement or something in the About Us link that will help you decide why the site was created?
Question 4: When Was the Website Made? How is the Website arranged?
Is the site too old for the information to be trusted?
Sometimes it doesn't matter when a site was created. Websites about Harriet Tubman or Anne Frank from 1996 might be just as good or better than websites about Tubman or Frank that were created in 2005. They both lived a long time ago so the information in the new sites might not be any different than the information in the older sites.
Sometimes the date the site was made matters. If you want to find statistics (facts, numbers) about the animals of the rain forest that are having their habitat destroyed, you want to use current information. You should use a site that has a recent date to get your facts.
How do you find out when a website was made? Look for a date on the site. You might find a date at the bottom of the home page. You might also want to see if the website was revised or changed after it was first made. You should look for a date and the word "updated." That means the person who updated it made changes, but sometimes it might have been to just fix a spelling mistake.
Do the links work? Do you get a lot of error messages when you click on links? Or does nothing happen when you click on a link? That shows that people have not worked on the site for a long time so the information might not be current.
Can you easily navigate the website? You should be able to find information on your specific topic easily. Look for a Site Map, Table of Contents, Index or Search Box.
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